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Rating: This collection is one of the best in the career of Joy Division; perhaps even the best.
You can find unreleased tracks and the first singles, when the band was not yet riding the wave of fame.
The band formed at the beginning of 1977, in Manchester, when four boys not yet in their twenties decided to start playing together.
The lineup consisted of Ian Curtis on vocals, Bernard Albrecth on guitar, Peter Hook on bass, and Steve Morris on drums. Initially, the band called themselves Warsaw, but soon the name changed to Joy Division, which referred to the Nazi camps where female deportees were forced into prostitution.
Between 1977 and 1978, Joy Division produced 12 singles, some of which were released on the debut extended play, "An Ideal For A Living," and in this collection.
The resulting music is influenced by punk, but you can already sense that something will characterize the band's sound and style.
Warsaw, Leaders Of Men, No Love Lost, Digital are the best early moments; the sound is not yet mature, very raw but at the same time compelling, with Curtis repeating those two or three phrases almost obsessively.
In 1979, the first album "Unknown Pleasures" was released; here JD began to get serious; the sound is more mature, but above all, Ian's voice acquires that particularity that would become his trademark.
Joy Division's concerts quickly became cult phenomena. The band members usually appeared dressed in black, with a sparse, essential stage setting and only the music in the foreground. Curtis, with his very distinctive voice, dominated the scene, dancing hysterically, with jerky movements, following the notes. The audience was left stunned.
In 1979, Joy Division continued to release increasingly beautiful singles (including "Transmission," the instrumental "Incubation," and "Atmosphere"), which would later be compiled in "Substance," and especially to perform concerts.
In April 1980, Joy Division released "Love Will Tear Us Apart" (also present in "Substance"), a poignant love song, and shot their first—and last—video clip.
Everything seemed to be going well in Joy Division's story; the release of the new album was imminent, and the band was about to leave for the United States for their first tour.
But right on the eve of the departure for a journey that would mean the consecration of the band's ambitions, the unexpected happened; at his home in Macclesfield, near Manchester, at the dawn of May 18, Ian Curtis, the soul of the band, hanged himself. He had recently separated from his wife.
It was the end of the band and the beginning of the construction of the myth. ”Closer,” the new album, came out a few months later and topped the UK charts; it contained some magnificent songs like "The Eternal," "Decades," sung with great emphasis by Curtis.
With Curtis' death, the band disbanded to form New Order. In 1982, "Still" was released posthumously, an album containing unreleased and live material. In '88, the aforementioned "Substance." Again in 1995, their best of, "Permanent," was released, followed by the live "Preston" and the four-CD box set, "Heart And Soul," coinciding with the anniversary of Curtis' death.
The influence Ian Curtis had in determining Joy Division's success is undisputed. A very sensitive person, Curtis suffered from epilepsy, a condition that accompanied him even in his activities with the band and affected his personality.
His lyrics always revisited certain themes: the fear of that "something out there," which is not well-defined, the ritual of resignation and defeat that repeats itself, the perennial indecision in the face of a choice, usually between two people to love.
What can I say, a review is not enough to thoroughly explain what Joy Division meant during their brief three years; in my humble opinion, they meant a lot, especially considering the period in which they emerged; they managed to distance themselves from the punk wave, initially sharing only that sound, and then abandoning it, increasingly adopting those characteristic traits that are what make a band great.
Maybe I haven't succeeded in capturing a vast reality in a few words, but I don't care; I wanted to write this review, and I did, period.
IMMENSE.
rating 10 stars (but unfortunately it doesn’t exist)
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